Trinity Football Outscores Bowdoin
Hartford, Conn. - Junior QB Craig Drusbosky (Orange, Conn.) threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns, including three scoring strikes to classmate Michael Galligan (Shoreham, N.Y.), to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 45-31 victory over the visiting Bowdoin College Polar Bears in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action at Jessee/Miller Field this afternoon. Trinity, ranked No. 1 in New England, improves to 5-0 with its 15th victory in a row, and its 34th consecutive triumph at home. The Bantams remain flawless in its 34 games played on the artificial turf at Jessee/Miller Field and have won 11 consecutive games against the Polar Bears, who drop to 2-3 for the season.
"I am disappointed that it happened today, but sooner or later we knew we would lose a game, and we lost this one to a good team," said Trinity Head Coach Jeff Devanney. "Middlebury took advantage of their opportunities, but I was proud of the way we battled back . We put ourselves in a position to win at the end."
Trinity led, 21-7, at intermission thanks to one touchdown passes by Drusbosky to freshman WR Drew Grombala (Cincinnati, Ohio) scoring tosses of 35 and 22 yards to Galligan. Grombala's 22-yard strike with 7:31 remaining in the first quarter gave Trinity a 7-0 lead and was the first in Grombala's collegiate career. Bowdoin scored its first-half touchdown on a 12-yard pass by senior co-captain QB Oliver Kell (Westford, Mass.) to classmate Justin Starr (Concord, Mass.) to cut Trinity's lead to 14-7 with 2:05 remaining in the half, but the Bantams answered immediately with its third touchdown 1:02 later. The Polar Bears fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the ball was recovered by Bantam sophomore Mark Snyder (Rockaway, N.J.), but Drusbosky's first-down pass was picked off by Bowdoin senior Will McIver (Morristown, N.J.) inside his own 10-yard line to avoid another Trinity score.
Trinity struck again with 10:07 left in the third quarter on a 24-yard field goal by sophomore Tim Costello (Solano Beach, Calif.), but 17 unanswered points in a 6:07 span by the visitors tied the game at 24-24 with 2:38 remaining in the third. Kell found sophomore WR Pat Noone (North Attleboro, Mass.) on 26-yard touchdown pass and, after a Drusbosky lost a fumble on a sack by Bowdoin sophomore LB Ian Vieira (Plymouth, Mass.), threw to senior WR Kevin Sullivan (Newburyport, Mass.) on a scoring toss from 11 yards away. Bowdoin junior K Bill Donahue (East Walpole, Mass.) connected on a 32-yard field goal to tie the game, but the Bantam offense answered the challenge with a quick 61-yard drive that culminated in a five-yard touchdown run by senior tri-captain RB Oliver Starnes (Ledgewood, N.J.) as time expired in the third stanza.
The Polar Bears tied the game again at 31-31 with a 10-play, 62-yard drive the ended on a three-yard touchdown pass from Kell to freshman WR Jon Gren (Severna Park, Md.) that gave Kell the all-time Bowdoin record with 31scoring passes in his career. The Trinity defense kept the visitors off the scoreboard the rest of the way, however, and the offense put together scoring drives of 61 and 67 yards in the fourth quarter to earn the victory. Bantam sophomore DE Herman Brito (Wayland, Mass.) recovered a fumble by Kell on a shotgun snap to end one Bowdoin possession and Trinity held the ball for 10:36 in the fourth quarter.
Drusbosky completed 23 passes in 37 tries but had three passes intercepted, while Galligan finished with eight catches for a game-high 165 yards, senior WR Winston Tuggle (Canton, Mass.) added five catches for 87 yards, and junior TE Chris Hunt (Westford, Mass.) caught four passes for 69 yards. Starnes scored twice on the ground and rushed 28 times for 93 yards. Kell racked up 358 passing yards on 28 completions and 48 attempts with four touchdown passes and no interceptions. Starr had eight receptions for 124 yards and senior RB Nick Tom (Newtown Square, Pa.) ran the ball 16 times for 81 yards. Trinity sophomore ILB Walter Fallas (Everett, Mass.) led all tacklers with 14, including 11 solo, while senior OLB Kyle Williams (Bethesda, Md.) had 10 hits and 3.5 tackles for loss, and Brito had two sacks. Senior LB Tyler Tennant (Swampscott, Mass.) had a team-high eight tackles for the Polar Bears and Vieira added two sacks.
